Raseedi's bet starts with a phone call. The Cairo-based fintech, founded in 2018, built an app that helps Egyptians make cheaper calls and manage their telecom spend [Crunchbase]. That dialer, claiming over 10 million monthly visits, was the initial wedge [Wamda, Nov 2021].
In January 2025, the company made its move. Raseedi announced an equity acquisition of Kashat, the owner of licensed microfinance lender Pharos Microfinance S.A.E. [Wamda, Jan 2025]. The deal gives Raseedi a regulated entity to originate loans. The plan is to offer instant nano-loans up to 3,000 Egyptian pounds directly through its app, using behavioral data from phone usage for credit scoring [Wamda, Jan 2025].
The Telecom-to-Finance Wedge
Raseedi's strategy is a super-app play. Instead of starting with payments or e-commerce, it used telecom optimization as its entry point. The founders, Ahmed Atalla and Samuel Samy, came from marketing roles at Vodafone, giving them on-the-ground insight into telecom consumer behavior [Ventureburn, Dec 2019]. Their early backers included 500 Startups, which led a $400,000 seed round in 2019, and regional investors Falak Startups and EFG-EV Fintech, which participated in an $850,000 pre-Series A in 2021 [MENAbytes, Dec 2019] [Wamda, Nov 2021].
A Crowded Field With a New Weapon
Raseedi lists Khazna as a direct competitor. Raseedi's acquisition of a microfinance license is its key differentiator, shifting the company from being a distribution channel to being the originator of the loan asset.
| Round | Date | Amount | Lead Investor(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Seed | Dec 2019 | $400,000 | 500 Startups [MENAbytes, Dec 2019] |
| Pre-Series A | Nov 2021 | $850,000 | Not Disclosed [Wamda, Nov 2021] |
Navigating Risk and Conflicting Reports
The company has not announced a new funding round since late 2021 [Wamda, Nov 2021]. Public records contain a conflicting narrative: a CB Insights profile from October 2024 lists Raseedi as having been acquired by Saudi q-commerce giant Nana [CB Insights, Oct 2024]. This report is unverified and conflicts directly with Raseedi's own announcement months later that it was the acquirer of Kashat [Wamda, Jan 2025].